Movie Musical Sneak Peek

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros Premiere Parts One & Two

Vagrant

Brand-New Moby

Veteran DJ Goes Celestial in Video for His Latest Single

Mute

U2 Headlining Glastonbury 2010

Rock Icons Will Make Their Festival Debut This Summer

Getty Images

Free CD Listening

Jawbox's Reissue, Kraftwerk's Career-Spanning Sampler + More!

Amazon

'It's Kind of Our 'Satisfaction''

Behind Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Classic Tune

Dennis Callahan

Jack PeƱate on the Interface

Londoner Plays His Boisterous Brand of Pop in Our Studio

Collin Erie for Spinner

'Who the F--- Are the Arctic Monkeys?'

Meet 20 Bands With Their Very Own Theme Songs

Domino
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Ian McCulloch: 'U2 Are for Teenagers'

Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch has once again singled out U2 for a tongue-lashing, branding the Irish megastars' music as "flag-waving" and "immature."

McCulloch has regularly stated his aversion to Bono and friends and appears to love using the press to express his disdain. Last year he referred to them as "spud peelers" whose ambition was to join music's elite stars like Bob Geldof, Sting and "all them c---s who no one really likes."

This time around, while he was slightly less vitriolic, McCulloch continued to ridicule U2 for appealing only to a younger, less-mature fan base and being nothing more than a commercial enterprise. "Bands all say they want to be as big as U2, but weirdly no one ever says they're influenced by them," he told New York magazine. "That's because there's nothing there, really."
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Mariachi El Bronx's Stage Outfits All About Respect

The concertgoing couple in zarapes, ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots clearly didn't get the memo; Mariachi El Bronx tread sensitively in their borrowing of Mexican culture. "We don't wear sombreros, which are part of the charro suit, because we're white, and it's disrespectful," explained guitarist Joby Ford before Monday's tour-closing gig at London's Islington Academy, the group's biggest UK show in their Latin-flavored guise. "We would get killed if we f----- around and didn't have respect. People would seriously come and kill us."

Happily, our amiable Euro-vaqueros faced no such danger on a night heavy on good humour and sing-a-longs, despite the gritty traditions of the rebel music invoked onstage. Mariachi El Bronx -- the acoustic, tequila-infused alter-egos of Los Angeles punk bruisers the Bronx -- may be surprised by their UK popularity ("Last night in Oxford I was talking a mom who was into mariachi music and a daughter who likes punk bands," recalled Ford pre-gig. "That's the Bronx, bringing families together!"), but it was easy to see why their euphoric live show has transcended cultural boundaries.
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A Place to Bury Strangers, 'In Your Heart' -- Video of the Day

Artist: A Place to Bury Strangers
Video: 'In Your Heart'
Highlight: The psychedelic indie rock trio performs amid swirling colors of dye, hazy spotlights and a simulated web broadcast.
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Northern Exposure: Escalate, 'Where There's Vans, There's Guns' -- Free MP3

Characterizing something as "dance music" is always tricky, given that such a signifier can span an entire spectrum of sound, from electro to disco to funk and beyond.

Toronto instrumental quartet Escalate somehow manage to embrace that wide scope in their loose, experimental approach, which runs the gamut from upbeat grooves to chilled-out soul without skipping a beat.

Formed in 2000 by two sets of brothers -- Grant and Tyler Drygas hold down the rhythm section while Shandy and Jordan Kern provide the melodies -- the band foregoes vocals in favour of building dense layers of funky instrumentals that reference jazz, soul, funk, R&B, even a soupçon of Afrobeat.

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The Chum Bucket: Music's Foreign Phrases + More

chum bucketMany of us have these songs to thank for teaching us the only non-English phrases we know. [AV Club]

Quit breaking our hearts, DOOM. [The Daily Swarm]

Rolling Stone looks at rock 'n' roll's most crotch-tastic moments. [Rolling Stone]

Things aren't looking so rosy for Chris Brown's comeback attempt. [Idolator]
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Keys N Krates Reinvent the Remix

Like many once-underground trends, mashups have gone mainstream (see: 'Glee'). But here to give the art form back some cred are Keys N Krates, a Toronto trio who claim to be "reinventing the remix" by merging classic hip-hop and top 40 pop with a live band vibe.

Each member brings an interesting contrast to the group. "I'm a real sample guy," says former battle DJ and DMC champ DJ Jr. Flo. "Matisse is a Soul/R&B singer, so he's all about the melodies and keyboards. He takes things in directions that I never envisioned." The third member is drummer Tune, who has been gigging with Matisse for almost ten years.

Despite their skills, it wasn't easy getting started. There are no ground-rules when it comes to orchestrating a live remix, no guidebooks or pre-carved pathways.

"We had no idea how we were going plan things out. We even started using crazy diagrams and flow charts at one point."
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Swell Season Explain 'Strict Joy' Origins

Although the Swell Season recently confessed to us that the their new album 'Strict Joy' was written more apart than together, they also took the time to explain to us the meaning behind the seemingly oxymoronic album title. In fact, they borrowed it from James Stephens, whose collection of poems has the same title. However, it turns out they're thinking well beyond than just an homage to their favorite poet.

"The poem is about when you go in and address your sorrow. It's a transformative thing that happens," Swell Season frontman Glen Hansard tells Spinner. "When you pull it out of the inner and give the words voice, there is a weird thing where the coal turns to diamond."